By Kim J. Harmon

Considering the history of the Newtown High School field hockey program, it was a strange position to be in, an unbelievable and almost unthinkable position to be in halfway through a game with Pomperaug, the almost perpetual champions of the South-West.

The lead.

Yes, halfway through an SWC match at Newtown High School – under the watchful eye of Governor John Rowland even – the Lady Nighthawks were clinging to a 1-0 halftime lead over the Lady Panthers.

The lead – as these things do – lasted only part way into the second half. As if the ‘Hawks were trying to hold back the tide with a spaghetti strainer, they simply could not hold off the resolute Lady Panthers, who continued bombarding the Newtown cage until they had secured a 3-1 win.

Despite the fact that the ‘Hawks entered the match with a less than auspicious 1-4-3 record, the 1-0 first-half lead was no fluke but a well-deserved advantage the ‘Hawks had earned through opportunistic offense and steadfast defense.

You see, the Lady Panthers outshot the Lady Nighthawks 16-2 in the first half (Pomperaug had 34 shots on the afternoon) but because of a solid defense and the work of an ever impressive Kari Levinson (bringing back memories, to some, of Erica Christopher and the remarkable game she had against Pomperaug two years ago) they could not convert.

But Newtown, which rallied into the offensive end only sporadically in the first half, did convert. Late in the half, the ‘Hawks finally did push the offense into good position down on the Pomperaug side of the field. The ‘Hawks got the ball down to the end line and worked the ball across into the strike circle. Heather Morgan loosed a shot that somehow snuck past the Pomperaug goaltender into the cage for the 1-0 lead.

The ‘Hawks continued to hold the Lady Panthers off in the second half until a beautiful hit into the circle was one-touched past Levinson into the cage for the 1-1 tie. The goal seemed to loosen the Panthers up and it wasn’t long before they had the 2-1 and then 3-1 advantage.

The second goal was a controversial one – as was the third – and both came after Levinson stoned Pomperaug on a penalty stroke attempt which would have snapped the 1-1 tie. She stopped the Lady Panthers there but couldn’t stop them on two questionable goals late in the half.

Coach Kathy Davey was optimistic before the game, still considering what her team had to do to qualify for the CIAC state tournament (and thinking a tie with Pomperaug would work quite well), but the loss to Pomperaug dealt her team a tough blow as it dropped to 1-5-3 on the season.

Things got a bit worse on Tuesday, too, as the ‘Hawks fell to 1-6-3 with a 5-0 loss to New Milford.

The Green Wave got goals from five different players – four of those goals coming in a disastrous second half. New Milford raised its South-West Conference record to 7-2-1 with the victory.